


Priorities

by Tammaiya



Category: X -エックス- | X/1999
Genre: Crack, Handwaving, Lots of kissing, M/M, Mistletoe, cultural inaccuracy, poor life choices made under the influence of alcohol, various minor background pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-12-25
Updated: 2004-12-25
Packaged: 2018-08-11 09:08:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7885090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tammaiya/pseuds/Tammaiya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas, Kamui feels, is a great time for a truce - and, more to the point, a party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Priorities

"Kamui, I'm all for celebrating Christmas," Subaru said carefully. "I thought the party was a good idea. But…"  
  
"But what?" Kamui asked cheerfully. "The mansion is more than big enough to chuck a party. It's Christmas, we all need a little happiness for a change, so where's the problem?"  
  
"Well, as I was saying," Subaru continued wretchedly, "I agree we need to do something to lift spirits a bit. I think the party will be fun. But do you really think it's wise to invite the Angels?"  
  
"Why not?" Kamui said reasonably. "They need Christmas cheer too. It's Christmas! The season of giving!"  
  
"But they're trying to kill us and destroy humanity," Subaru reminded him. "I don't think they're really that interested in Christmas."  
  
"Don't be silly, Subaru," Kamui said, sounding mildly scandalised. "They're not going to try and kill us at _Christmas_. Christmas is special! It's like how the English used to pause their wars for teatime!"  
  
"What, they actually paused wars for teatime?" Subaru asked incredulously.  
  
"Apparently. That's what my history teacher told us."  
  
Subaru considered this, but was still having trouble comprehending the idea of two warring armies agreeing to a truce for something so paltry as tea. "Monou-san isn't English."  
  
"I'd think that was obvious, really."  
  
"No, I mean… How do you know he'll stick to a truce? He's not exactly honourable. He's going to kill us all on Christmas Eve, and then I'll have no choice but to say I told you so."  
  
"No you won't," Kamui corrected him. "If you're dead, you can't say I told you so."  
  
"Semantics."  
  
"He won't kill us," Kamui said certainly. "If he even _thinks_ about messing up my Christmas, I'll kill him first."  
  
Subaru found it a little concerning that Kamui was unable to kill Fuuma for torturing him, murdering Kotori, causing the death of thousands of people or trying to bring about the destruction of the world and yet didn't have a problem with killing him over something like Christmas.  
  
Still, it didn't look as though Kamui was going to be deterred. Subaru sighed. "If you're that determined, do what you like. I still think it's going to be a complete disaster."  
  
"That's because you're a complete pessimist," Kamui said dismissively. "It'll be fine. What could possibly go wrong?"  
  
Oh God. He had to say it, didn't he?  
  
Subaru wondered if there was any way he could hide until it was all over.  
  
~  
  
"What's that in your hand?" Yuuto asked with mild curiosity.  
  
"An invitation," Fuuma said, sounding vaguely perplexed. "To a Christmas party."  
  
Yuuto snorted. "No offence, but who'd invite _you_ to a Christmas party?"  
  
Fuuma was still staring at the piece of paper as if it were some kind of snake that might bite him. "Kamui, apparently."  
  
Long, incredulous silence.   
  
"Yeah, sure. He actually likes being tortured and having his mind messed about with, so obviously you were his first choice to spend Christmas with. Who is it really from? Kanoe?"  
  
"No, really," Fuuma insisted. "It's not just for me. We're all invited."  
  
Yuuto raised his eyebrows. "You're not joking, are you."  
  
"Unfortunately not."  
  
"Unfortunately what?" Seishirou asked, closing the door behind him. "Have I missed something?"  
  
"The Seals have invited all of us to a Christmas party," Fuuma repeated.  
  
Seishirou paused in taking his coat off and turned to glance at the dark _Kamui_. "And are we going?"  
  
Fuuma shrugged. "Ah, why not? It's not like we have anything planned. I've got better things to do than kill people on Christmas."  
  
"That needs to be a greeting card," Seishirou said thoughtfully. "It's on CLAMP Campus, I suppose?"  
  
"Here," Fuuma said, and passed him the invitation.  
  
"I'm a little insulted Subaru-kun didn't send me one personally, really," Seishirou said idly.  
  
(As a matter of fact, Kamui had actually considered-- in the spirit of giving-- letting Subaru write a separate invitation for the Sakurazukamori. However, it had then occurred to him that said invitation would probably read something like, "Seishirou-san, if you come to this party I will kill you or myself or maybe both of us. Alternatively, I'll move to Alaska.")  
  
Fuuma rolled his eyes. "You're delusional."  
  
"No, I'm persistent," Seishirou corrected him, passing the invitation to Yuuto. "There's a vital difference. One of them involves hard work and hard work paying off with success."  
  
"I rest my case," Fuuma muttered.  
  
"How do we know it's not a trap?" Yuuto said, studying the invitation with mild interest.  
  
"They're Seals," Fuuma said witheringly. "They're too noble and pure to do something so dishonourable as lay a trap, least of all one like this. You're thinking like an Angel."  
  
"Point," Yuuto conceded. "So, who wants to tell Satsuki?"  
  
He was met by two very pointed looks.  
  
"Damn," he sighed.  
  
~  
  
"I think they're here!" Kamui exclaimed, bouncing across the furniture like a hyperactive rubber ball.  
  
"Oi, kid, why are you so excited?" Sorata said gingerly. "Are you really _that_ happy to see the Dragons of Earth? Yeesh."  
  
"Is everything ready?" Kamui asked impatiently. "Is the eggnog mixed? Are the decorations up? Is the--"  
  
"Everything is fine," Karen interrupted him calmly, and winked. " _All_ the decorations are up. Trust me."  
  
"Excellent," Kamui said gleefully, and flopped back onto the couch.  
  
"Kusanagi-san!" Yuzuriha squealed, launching herself across the room in what seemed like a single leap.  
  
"Oof! How's my little lady?"  
  
"Huh? Where's Subaru?" Kamui said suddenly. "He was here earlier, wasn't he?"  
  
"Hm?" Karen glanced around the room. Aoki and Arashi were in the kitchen; Kusanagi was the only Dragon of Earth in the room. Subaru was nowhere to be seen. "I think he went out for a cigarette. Where are the other Angels?"  
  
"Oh, they're coming," Kusanagi assured her, placing Yuzuriha gently down on the ground and petting Inuki's head. "They were behind me."  
  
"Oh dear," Kamui said blankly. "Do you think I should have warned Subaru about the…"  
  
"Perhaps," Karen answered thoughtfully when he trailed off. "I think we should go check on him. Just in case."  
  
"Subaru!" Kamui called, running into the parlour where Subaru was leaning against the wall near the front door. "You might want to watch where you stand! We forgot to tell you about the mistle--"  
  
"There's mistletoe?" Fuuma asked curiously, stopping to take his coat off as he walked past Subaru.  
  
"Uh oh," Kamui said resignedly. "Too late."  
  
"What?" Subaru asked fearfully, and glanced up to see that there was mistletoe hanging directly above he and Fuuma. "Oh, no. You're kidding me."  
  
"Rules are rules," Fuuma said, altogether too cheerfully for Subaru's liking, and pulled the protesting Seal into an open-mouthed kiss.  
  
"Oh dear," Seishirou commented. "Looks like Subaru-kun is the first victim of the mistletoe, yet I wasn't the one to catch him. What a pity."  
  
It was, Kamui thought, disturbingly hard to tell if Sakurazuka was amused or annoyed through those sunglasses.  
  
Fuuma released Subaru, and the Sumeragi stumbled back a few steps in a dazed manner. "Wfgle?"  
  
"Beating me to my own prey," Seishirou said idly, walking up to stand by Fuuma. "I'm not sure how I feel about that, Monou."  
  
"Out of interest, did you _intend_ to step under the mistletoe?" Fuuma asked him.  
  
"There's mistletoe above us?" Seishirou said innocently. "Silly me. I'd completely forgotten."  
  
"How unfortunate for you." Fuuma smirked, grabbing Seishirou's tie and reeling the other man in for his second kiss in so many minutes.   
  
Subaru seemed torn between staring and running away whilst he still had the chance; staring apparently won, though probably only because he was still in shock. Kamui, on the other hand, was making a strange and rather concerning gurgling noise. Karen, watching from the doorway, thought that the teenager looked as though he wasn't sure whether to appreciate the aesthetics or pull them apart.  
  
Interesting.  
  
She had no such qualms, however. There was nothing to stop her fully appreciating the moment, and so she did.  
  
As soon as the kiss came to an end, Subaru jolted from his frozen state. Staring wide-eyed at Seishirou, he quickly realised that standing around here was like an invitation to be accosted. He was, he decided, too sober for this.  
  
"Kamui, you can… greet the other guests," he said diplomatically, and escaped back into the kitchen.  
  
"Foiled again," Seishirou sighed dramatically. "Alas."  
  
Fuuma shrugged. "You've got all evening."  
  
Seishirou smirked. "True."  
  
As Subaru was no longer there, Kamui felt nervous on his behalf. Then he quickly forgot about it in the face of eggnog.  
  
~  
  
Subaru was sitting on the couch deeply contemplating his glass of eggnog as if hoping it would reveal the secrets of the universe. He barely even glanced up when Yuuto sat next to him.  
  
"Subaru-kun," Seishirou said from about two metres behind, "why did you allow your _Kamui_ to invite the Dragons of Earth to a Christmas party? Surely you must have been a little bit worried that we may use it as an opportunity to attack you?"  
  
Subaru rubbed at his temples where he could feel a headache coming on. "He said it would be alright because it was Christmas. Something about the English stopping wars for tea, though who knows what that's got to do with it. Can you believe whole armies paused wars just for tea?"  
  
"But of course," Seishirou said reasonably. "Priorities, Subaru-kun. It's all about priorities."  
  
Subaru stared at him, and wondered what this said about Seishirou's mental state. It might actually explain a lot.  
  
"No sense in letting something get in the way of our tea," Yuuto added, completely deadpan as he took a sip from his own tea. "Or our Christmas, in this case. Though tea is clearly more important."  
  
Subaru realised that he was, in fact, surrounded by freaks. He'd already known that, obviously, but this conversation had underlined it. Several times, in red pen.  
  
"Oh, by the way, Sumeragi-san," Yuuto said calmly, placing his teacup down on the coffee table, "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we're sitting underneath a sprig of mistletoe."  
  
Subaru's glance shot upwards, and he winced. Yuuto smiled and gently slid a hand round the back of Subaru's head, leaning in for a kiss.  
  
Seishirou silently lamented his bad luck at not thinking of sitting next to Subaru first. He should, he realised, have done a surveillance for mistletoe earlier. It was probably going to be harder to catch Subaru unawares, now.  
  
Well, he was used to being a hunter. He'd make do.  
  
~  
  
"Look, mistletoe!" Yuzuriha squealed, pouncing onto Satsuki with an enthusiastic kiss the other girl was clearly not expecting.  
  
There was mistletoe _everywhere_ , Subaru was beginning to discover. There had been so many kisses up to now that he was brought to wonder if anyone had been keeping count; it was at least seven by now, he thought. So far, he'd seen Yuzuriha kiss Kusanagi on the cheek, Yuuto tip Karen back into an all-out French kiss and Karen kiss Sorata on the lips.  
  
Nobody seemed to have been cornered as many times as he had, however. After Fuuma and Yuuto, he'd also been kissed (chastely, for a pleasant change) by Yuzuriha, Nataku and Arashi. It was starting to feel as though he couldn't hide anywhere.  
  
"Sorata-san," Karen called, coming up to stand behind Subaru, "what are you doing?"  
  
Sorata blinked at her. "Getting more eggnog. Why?"  
  
"I couldn't help but notice that you and Kigai-san were under the mistletoe."  
  
Sorata glanced at the ceiling, glanced at Yuuto and stared at her in horror. "I'm not kissing him! He's a sleazy pink-suit-wearing pimp!"  
  
Yuuto narrowed his eyes. "Well, excuse _me_. You're a punk of a kid with no fashion sense, but you don't hear me being so offensive about it, do you?"  
  
Sorata gaped at him. "Huh? You just were!"  
  
"Only because you started it," Yuuto said smugly.  
  
"Karen-san!" Sorata whined. "I refuse to kiss that guy!"  
  
"Good," Yuuto replied. "I'd be afraid of catching rabies if I kissed you."  
  
"Boys?" Karen interrupted sweetly. "Aren't you forgetting something?"  
  
"… Karen-san?" Sorata said warily.  
  
"Mistletoe is not optional," she reminded them, smiling brightly.  
  
"You can't force us to kiss," Yuuto argued.  
  
"Are you going to be a coward, then?" Karen asked him slyly.  
  
Yuuto blinked. "Is she impugning our masculinity?"  
  
"You wear pink," Sorata muttered. "You don't _have_ any masculinity. I'm so out of here."  
  
"People with honour don't break traditions," Arashi said flatly, walking in from the kitchen.  
  
"I don't believe this," Sorata said woefully. "Nee-chan! How could you?"  
  
"Stop complaining, you baby," Yuuto said disdainfully, and pulled him into a tongue-kiss before he could struggle away.  
  
Once he was released, Sorata stood there and whimpered, apparently too traumatised even to speak. This was the first time Subaru could actually remember Sorata speechless, so he marked it down in his memory as a momentous occasion.  
  
"You wanted more eggnog?" Arashi asked him dispassionately, coming up to join him with the tray she'd brought in from the kitchen.  
  
"Huh?" Sorata said blankly. "Oh, yeah. Thanks, Nee-chan."  
  
Arashi handed him a glass and then, completely unexpectedly, leaned up to brush a kiss against his lips. "Mistletoe," she explained, and left before Sorata could do more than paste a silly grin on his face.  
  
Yuuto had wiped his mouth and walked away cheerfully to associate with Seishirou, who had only just spotted Subaru and was now gazing at him with something akin to predatory intent. Subaru edged backwards nervously.  
  
"Subaru-san?" Karen prompted him carefully.  
  
"Don't tell me," Subaru said, sighing with resignation, and looked up to see the expected mistletoe. "How did I guess?"  
  
"More to do with intuition than luck, I'd say," Karen laughed, and leaned over to press her mouth against his. Chalk another kiss onto his tally for the evening, Subaru thought giddily. He'd been kissed by more people in one night than in the rest of his life combined.  
  
When the kiss broke off, Subaru found that Seishirou was still watching him and beat a hasty retreat. Seishirou walked over to join Karen, and she raised an eyebrow at him.  
  
"Have you come to menace me for kissing Subaru-san?"  
  
"It wouldn't really do much good if you're not afraid of me," he said amicably.  
  
"You do realise you've just walked under more mistletoe, don't you?"  
  
"Do I?" Seishirou asked idly. "Maybe I'd forgotten."  
  
"How convenient for you," Karen remarked dryly, and wound her arms around Seishirou's shoulders for support when he kissed her.  
  
"Do I taste like Subaru-san?" she asked flippantly when they broke apart.  
  
"Maybe," Seishirou said noncommittally. "I wouldn't know."  
  
"You'll just have to find out then, won't you?" Karen said, and disappeared off back into the kitchen.  
  
Easier said than done.  
  
~  
  
Number of times Subaru had been kissed: six.  
  
Number of times Subaru had been kissed by Seishirou: zero.  
  
Number of times Seishirou's attempts to kiss Subaru had been foiled: three.  
  
This was beginning to get a little frustrating. Seishirou was going to have to try a little harder, it seemed, because Subaru became a little more paranoid each time he got caught.  
  
"Subaru, are you hiding?" Kamui asked suspiciously.  
  
Seishirou was also becoming somewhat annoyed with people beating him to it.  
  
"Hiding?" Subaru said guiltily. "Why would I be doing that?"  
  
"Is there any other reason you'd be upstairs when everyone else is downstairs?" Kamui replied tactfully. "Although, Subaru, you should really look more closely if you're going to hide."  
  
"What do you mean?" Subaru demanded. "I'm upstairs! The party is downstairs! Why would there be any-- I mean…"  
  
"Look up, Subaru," Kamui said apologetically.  
  
"Why is there mistletoe here?" Subaru wailed.  
  
"I think that was Sorata's idea," Kamui said, and pulled Subaru down for a kiss.  
  
"You seem to have being accosted down to a fine art, Subaru-kun," Seishirou commented, still leaning against the banner of the staircase on the other side of the corridor.  
  
"S-Seishirou-san!" Subaru yelped, jumping back from Kamui and looking for an escape route. "I should… probably go help out in the kitchen. Kamui, I'll see you later, okay?"  
  
Kamui waved as Subaru walked-- very quickly-- in the opposite direction, and turned to glare at Seishirou.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"I want to know what you were doing following my Subaru-kun," Seishirou said calmly.  
  
"He's not your Subaru!" Kamui snapped. "And I was worried about where he'd gone, you hypocrite!"  
  
"Of course you were," Seishirou answered sarcastically, stepping closer. "And hypocrisy is irrelevant. It's a different thing entirely."  
  
"No it's not," Kamui argued. "You're delusional, you-- what are you doing?"  
  
"Mistletoe," Seishirou said pleasantly, and pinned a rather panicked Kamui against the wall with a brutal kiss.  
  
"Sakurazuka," Fuuma said sulkily, coming up the stairs behind them, "would you mind taking your fun elsewhere? Molesting Kamui is my job."  
  
Contemptuously, Seishirou let go of Kamui, leaving the teenager to collapse weakly against the wall. "That's the entire point," he said darkly, and stalked away leaving a very confused Fuuma to wonder what, precisely, that non sequitur was supposed to mean.  
  
"Don't forget about the mistletoe," Kamui reminded Fuuma, a bit too helpful for someone about to be molested.  
  
"Mustn't forget that," Fuuma agreed, and pushed Kamui back up against the wall for another kiss.  
  
Number of times Subaru had been kissed: seven.  
  
Number of times Seishirou had been foiled: four.  
  
Seishirou was going to run out of patience soon.  
  
~  
  
"Hi, Kakyou-san," Subaru said tentatively.  
  
"Subaru-san," Kakyou greeted him calmly. "Another glass of eggnog?"  
  
"It's good eggnog," Subaru said defensively. That had absolutely nothing to do with how alcoholic it was, of course.  
  
"I see," Kakyou answered idly. "Maybe I should try some. You missed Sorata kissing Kamui," he added as an afterthought.  
  
"Oh," Subaru said. That must have been before Kamui had kissed him, he thought. "No offence, Kakyou-san, but why are you here? Parties like this don't really seem to be your sort of thing."  
  
"My _Kamui_ decreed it," Kakyou said wryly. "And this obviously means that it happened."  
  
"I can sympathise, then," Subaru sighed, and wondered if he was going to end up with a phobia against mistletoe.  
  
"Subaru-san," Kakyo said eventually, "I am truly sorry to have to tell you this, but I feel obliged."  
  
"What?" Subaru said gingerly, made wary by such auspicious words.  
  
"Look up."  
  
Subaru cringed and looked up half against his will, despite already knowing what he would find. "Not _again_!" he cried, utterly dismayed. "Is there nowhere to hide in this entire mansion?"  
  
There had to be a conspiracy, he decided wildly. There was no other explanation for the fact that he ran into people under the mistletoe wherever he went. He'd been kissed more than any other person at the party! Honestly, it was bordering on ridiculous.  
  
Still, rules were rules, and Subaru had always found it hard to go against tradition. Bending down to kiss Kakyou, he reflected that he was about to kiss his dead twin's boyfriend, and was suddenly mildly disturbed.  
  
At least he didn't look that much like Hokuto any more, right?  
  
"I should have thought to warn you, Subaru-san," Kakyou apologised. "It didn't occur to me."  
  
"Don't worry about it," Subaru said miserably, and went off in search of the elusive hiding place.  
  
"I assume you were the one responsible for placing my wheelchair here?" Kakyou asked Fuuma when the other Angel came down the stairs.  
  
"Possibly," Fuuma said charmingly. "Oh, look. Mistletoe! How unexpected."  
  
Kakyou rolled his eyes. "You're a terrible actor," he said, and turned his face up to let Fuuma kiss him.  
  
~  
  
He had lost track of how many glasses of eggnog he'd had, Subaru realised, and came to the conclusion that he was actually rather drunk now. Still, he'd managed to avoid being kissed by anyone for the last half hour, which had to count for something. Everyone else had been less fortunate, however. Well, less fortunate by his own reckoning; it was altogether possible that other people liked being caught under the mistletoe.  
  
Probable, even, though Subaru didn't profess to understand it.  
  
He'd run into Fuuma and Kamui kissing under various sprigs of mistletoe so many times by this point that he was beginning to get more than a tad suspicious. He may have been absolutely smashed, but he was still quite sure that nobody could allow themself to be cornered that many times without it being intentional. For that matter, at this particular moment Fuuma and Kamui were going far beyond the call of duty so far as the mistletoe was concerned, in Subaru's opinion. It was time, he figured, to find another place to hide. One without teenagers making out, hopefully.  
  
Perhaps he should have considered this course of action more carefully, however, and weighed up the inconvenience of hiding near Fuuma and Kamui against the benefits of hiding in a place where he was absolutely certain there was no mistletoe above him. Unfortunately for him, he was too drunk to consider this.  
  
He was also too drunk to look carefully where he was going, both for people in his path and mistletoe above his head.  
  
"Oof!" he exclaimed, walking straight into something-- or someone, rather-- and falling backwards before hands grabbed his arms to steady him.  
  
"Subaru-kun?"  
  
Subaru, wide-eyed, looked straight up into Seishirou's very amused expression. Then he looked up further, straight at a green and red piece of greenery.  
  
"Oh, sod."  
  
"Are you that unhappy to see me?" Seishirou asked, smirking. "I'm hurt, Subaru-kun."  
  
"Of course you are," Subaru muttered, slurring slightly. "You've been waiting to do this just so you could crow over it all evening, admit it."  
  
"Waiting all evening?" Seishirou tilted his head slightly as if weighing up the truth of the statement. "Yes, that's a pretty fair assessment. So I could crow over it? Not my primary aim, no."  
  
"Whatever," Subaru sighed. "There's no way out of this, is there?"  
  
"No," Seishirou said thoughtfully. "No, I don't think there is. I'm a little too sick of watching you kiss other people, really."  
  
Subaru blinked at him, trying to think a step ahead through his fuzzy alcohol-hazed mind and failing. "You're jealous?"  
  
"You know me, Subaru-kun," Seishirou said pleasantly. "I've always been the possessive type."  
  
"Huh," Subaru said, glancing down at his hands before looking up at Seishirou again. "Aren't you going to get it over with, then?"  
  
"Get it over with?" Seishirou repeated incredulously. "I think not."  
  
"Then what--" Subaru started, but was cut off by Seishirou's mouth against his. The kiss lasted much too long, he realised, longer than the other kisses had, only it didn't _feel_ too long. Bugger, he thought suddenly, I'm enjoying it. That couldn't be a good sign for the future.  
  
He'd somehow managed to end up with his arms twined around Seishirou's neck so his weight was entirely supported by the other man, which also wasn't terribly good. It was just the alcohol, he told himself, affecting his balance and making him light-headed. There was no way Seishirou would have this effect on him if he were sober.  
  
He didn't sound particularly convincing to himself.  
  
"I'm going to regret this tomorrow, aren't I?" he asked breathlessly, forehead resting on Seishirou's shoulder.  
  
"Possibly," Seishirou conceded reluctantly. "Though I would hope not. I'm quite certain you'll be regretting your hangover, however."  
  
Subaru's eyes fluttered open. "Great," he murmured. "I hadn't even thought of that."  
  
Now, the sensible corner of his mind informed him, would be a very good time to make a break for it and hide in his room, where there was most assuredly no mistletoe whatsoever and no Seishirou either.  
  
Room? the rest of his brain said. There's a bed in your room. Beds are more comfortable than walls. Seishirou may appreciate that.  
  
What? No! That's not what--  
  
The sensible part of his brain was outvoted; the other part had the alcohol on its side. Besides, that side reasoned, he'd already kissed Seishirou once, so where was the problem in doing it again?  
  
There was a flaw somewhere in that logic, but he couldn't find it, so he kissed Seishirou instead.  
  
"Subaru-kun?" Seishirou said after the second kiss had broken off, mildly surprised.  
  
"I," Subaru announced, "have a room. And it is this way."  
  
Seishirou snorted. "Going to sleep already?"  
  
Subaru blinked at him. "You're not coming with me?"  
  
Seishirou stared at him. "You're drunk," he said finally.  
  
Subaru put some deep thought into this before answering. "Yes," he said. "So?"  
  
Seishirou considered it for a few seconds and shrugged. "So nothing."  
  
"Good," Subaru told him, and set off stumbling down the hall towards his room until the entertainment value wore off and Seishirou picked him up and carried him.  
  
~  
  
It had been, Karen thought, a good evening. Certainly, there was a lot of mess now and there would be a lot of hangovers and embarrassment tomorrow, but so far as she was aware it was worth it, for the blackmail material and amusement if nothing else. They could have Christmas lunch tomorrow, she decided. Turkey, that would feed all of them.  
  
She was doing everyone a service. Well, perhaps she was doing it partially because she wanted to watch everyone squirm at having to spend more time with people who'd seen them drunk the night before. She was also doing it because she thought that the longer the truce lasted the better. Kamui would probably be very grateful, poor kid.  
  
Subaru might be too. She certainly hoped so; he deserved a break.  
  
"Do you think we got a little enthusiastic with the mistletoe?" Aoki asked dubiously, emerging from the kitchen for the first time all evening. All the Seals, minus Subaru and Arashi, had been responsible for the havoc-wreaking plant being strewn throughout the house. Maybe they had gone overboard; the only place where there was no mistletoe at all were in the bedrooms and in the kitchen, as it would have gotten in the way of cooking the snack dishes.  
  
Karen smiled and glanced up. Yes, there was mistletoe everywhere, pretty much. "Perhaps," she said slowly, moving closer to give the surprised Aoki a gentle kiss on the lips. "Then again, perhaps you can never have too much mistletoe."


End file.
